Press Release: Kate Swaffer joins WDC

DAI Chair, Kate Swaffer becomes a member of the World Dementia Council

Dementia Alliance International (DAI) Chair Kate Swaffer from Australia has today officially become a member of the World Dementia Council, the second person with dementia to join this council. This is an important and significant appointment for DAI, and for people with dementia globally. She joins another DAI member, who is also Vice Chair of the European Dementia Working Group, Hilary Doxford from the UK.

In light of our work towards full access for people with dementia to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which is a global tool for achieving social change, this second appointment is particularly significant. Article 19 of the Convention is the right to live independently and to be included in the community. DAI successfully advocated for many months to have at least one person with dementia on this Council, and it is very encouraging today to announce this second appointment.

DAI is the global voice of people with dementia, and seeks to represent the more than 47.5 million people currently diagnosed with dementia, and every new person diagnosed every 3.2 seconds, and this appointment shows progress towards fuller inclusion in those things that are about us. Whilst our membership is not yet represented in all countries, we do now have members in a growing number of non English speaking countries, and as membership grows, so will our collective voice.

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